yARROW.] CREMATION—OREGON. 145 
high state of merriment. Ifa stranger happen to be present they invariably plunder 
him; but if. that pleasure be denied them, they never separate without quarreling 
among themselves. Whatever property the deceased possessed is placed about the 
corpse; and if he happened to be a person of consequence, his friends generally pur- 
chase a capote, a shirt, a pair of trousers, &c., which articles are also laid around the 
pile. If the doctor who attended him has escaped uninjured, he is obliged to be 
present at the ceremony, aud for the last time tries his skill in restoring the defunct 
to animation. Failing in this, he throws on the body a piece of leather, or some other 
article, as a present, which in some measure appeases the resentment of his relatives, 
and preserves the unfortunate quack from being maltreated. During the nine days 
the corpse is laid out, the widow of the deceased is obliged to sleep along side it from 
sunset to sunrise; and from this custom there is no relaxation even during the hottest 
days of summer! While the doctor is performing his last operations she must lie on 
the pile, and after the fire is applied to it she cannot stir until the doctor orders her 
to be removed, which, however, is never done until her body is completely covered 
with blisters. After being placed on her legs, she is obliged to pass her hands gently 
through the flame and collect some of the liquid fat which issues from the corpse, 
with which she is permitted to wet her face and body! When the friends of the 
deceased observe the sinews of the legs and arms beginning to contract they compel 
the unfortunate widow to go again on the pile, and by dint of hard pressing to 
straighten those members. 
If during her husband’s lifetime she has been known to have committed any act of 
infidelity or omitted administering to him savory food or neglected his clothing, &c., 
she is now made to suffer severely for such lapses of duty by his relations, who fre- 
quently fling her in the funeral pile, from which she is dragged by her friends; and 
thus between alternate scorching and cooling she is dragged backwards and forwards 
until she falls into a state of insensibility. 
After the process of burning the corpse has terminated, the widow collects the larger 
bones, which she rolls up in an envelope of birch bark, and which she is obliged for 
some years afterwards to carry on her back. She is now considered and treated as a 
slave; all the laborious duties of cooking, collecting fuel, &c., devolve on her. She 
must obey the orders of allthe women, andevenot the children belonging to the village, 
and the slightest mistake or disobedience subjects her to the infliction of a heavy pun- 
ishment. The ashes of her husband are carefully collected and deposited in a grave, 
which it is her duty to keep free from weeds; and should any such appear, she is 
obliged to root them out with her jingers. During this operation her husband’s rela- 
tives stand by and beat her in a cruel manner until the task is completed or she falls 
a victim to their brutality. The wretched widows, to avoid this complicated cruelty, 
frequently commit suicide. Shouid she, however, linger on for three or four years, 
the friends of her husband agree to relieve her from her painful mourning. This is a 
ceremony of much consequence, and the preparations for it occupy a considerable 
time, generally trom six to eight months. The hunters proceed to the various districts 
in which deer and beaver abound, and after collecting large quantities of meat and fur 
return to the village. The skins are immediately bartered for guns, ammunition, 
clothing, trinkets, &c. Invitations are then sent to the inhabitants of the various 
friendly villages, and when they have all assembled the feast commences, and presents 
are distributed to each visitor. The object of their meeting is then explained, and 
the woman is brought forward, still carrying on her back the bones of her late hus- 
band, which are now removed and placed in a covered box, which is nailed or other- 
wise fastened to a post twelve feet high. Her conductasa faithful widow isnext highly 
eulogized, and the ceremony of her manumission is completed by one man powdering 
on her head the down of birds and another pouring on it the contents of a bladder of 
oil! She is then at liberty to marry again or lead a life of single blessedness ; but 
few of them, I believe, wish to encounter the risk attending a second widowhood, 
lO AE 
